Chain of command
by Azura
Summary: Just a short story about the SG-1 team on an unusual mission. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. It's my first submission. ^_^


TITLE: Chain of command  
Author: Azura  
Email: nutmegnz@angelfire.com  
Rating:G  
Season: Anytime  
Spoilers: None  
  
Disclaimer: None of the Stargate characters involved in this story belong to me (however much I pray). They all belong to the people who make the show. This story is for entertainment only.  
  
Authors note: My first ever Stargate story. I hope you like it. Somebody please tell me what you think.  
  
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The wind rustled the leaves of the huge pine trees. Teal'c, Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter were sitting on a rotting log in the middle of a clearing.  
"Anyone got any idea what we should do now?" Daniel asked.  
Teal'c sitting straight backed next Daniel answered first.  
"This is a most unexpected situation. I have no viable solution to offer."  
Sam shook her head.  
"I'm sorry Daniel I just don't know what to do. I guess our only option is to keep following the path. Maybe we'll find another way back."  
The three of them stood up, hooked their water canteens back onto their belts and trudged off following a narrow dirt path leading between the ancient boles. After walking for half an hour and seeing no sign of anyone else they found themselves in a clearing on top of a hill. The hilltop gave them a view for miles in every direction. Sam pointed to the south, the direction they had come from.   
"We came originally from behind those hills. Down the bottom there was where we lost our weapons."  
Sam looked pointedly at Daniel. He sighed and rolled his eyes.  
"Look guys I'm sorry okay! How many times do I have to say that. Okay I know a rickety old rope bridge across a canyon with a raging river underneath, stupid idea. At least we still have the radio."  
"Not that we can use it" Sam ran her hands through her short blonde hair.  
"Um, Major? If I may make an observation,"  
"Yes Teal'c?"  
"When we first arrived here, we were able to contact Colonel O'Neill on the radio, so we know that it can be used on this world. It is possible we have not been able to contact him since because we were too low. Now that we are on a hill may it not be wise to try again?"  
Daniel frowned, "Teal'c's got a point Sam."  
"Yeah he does. Okay we'll try again. Just nobody get their hopes up okay."  
The Major pulled her radio off her belt,  
"Colonel O'Neill, this is Major Carter. Can you hear us?" [pause] "Colonel O'Neill?" [pause]  
Sam frowned at the others. "I'm sorry guys I don't think-"  
*crackle* the radio spat out a burst of white noise.  
Sam held it up to her ear. There was silence.  
"Colonel O'Neill this is Major Carter. Can you hear us?!" [pause] "Jack! Please answer!"  
*Sam I'm here. I can hear you.*  
The three lost members of SG-1 appeared visibly relieved.  
Sam quickly updated the Colonel on their situation.  
"So what can we do now Jack?"  
*Well according to some information I've got here, if you keep following that path, you should be out in about a day.*  
"Sir what about our weapons? We lost our guns."  
*I dunno, Use sticks or something. Hang on don't you guys have knives.*  
"Okay Sir. We'll try to contact you again later."  
With that she put the radio back on her belt and shrugged at the other two.  
"Well you heard what the man said."  
Teal'c looked at the sky.  
"I have been studying the pattern of the sun on this world and I believe that night will be falling within 90 minutes. We had best find a safe campsite."  
  
An hour later they had just finished setting up a rudimentary camp. A small fire burned in the middle of a clearing, three blankets were arranged around the fire.  
"I'm just going to go up the top of that rise and see if I can contact Jack before it gets dark." Sam left the campsite.  
Daniel sighed as he chewed on a ration bar.  
"How did we get into this mess Teal'c?"  
"Well Daniel Jackson, I believe it began when we entered this forest."  
"Then that Giant Crocodile didn't help."  
"No it didn't. When it was chasing us, we got lost. I am sorry. I should have been keeping track of where we were going."  
The last light was fading when Sam came back to the camp.  
"Nope. Nothing. Not even any white noise this time. I guess we'll have to try again tomorrow. We should get some sleep. I'll take the first watch." While Daniel and Teal'c made themselves as comfortable as they could get on the needle strewn ground Sam sat staring out into the dark foreboding forest.  
  
It was in the early hours of the morning on Teal'c's watch when the noises started. At first he thought it was just the wind in the trees. But then he was sure he could hear the sound of something scraping on a tree trunk. In fact it sounded like claws. He silently reached out and gently shook Sam. She woke without a sound. Teal'c motioned to her to listen. After a minute she picked a large knife up from the ground next to her and quietly woke Daniel. She signaled to him that there was something nearby in the forest and he picked up his own knife. Suddenly the campsite was chaos as two huge ground-hugging figures came rushing into the clearing from opposite directions. One of them attacked Teal'c and the other made a beeline for Daniel. Sam heard both men cry out as the beasts struck. In the pale light of the embers she could see Teal'c holding one at bay with quick stinging blows with his knife. But Daniel was in trouble, the thing had grabbed his leg in it's mouth and was shaking him from side to side. His knife had flown from his hand and landed near the fire. She rushed over to help him. She tried to get in close to strike at the creature but it's throes threatened to trip her over. At last she saw an opening, Daniel had managed to grab a large stick from the firewood pile and he hit the thing on what appeared to be it's head. Obviously it must have been because the thing stopped shaking Daniel and stood still for a brief moment. Sam took the opportunity. She rushed forward and plunged the knife into what she hoped was it's spine. The beast let go of Daniel and screamed. It was a high pitched wail of pain. It turned on Sam to attack her. It was about a foot away from her when suddenly it's back legs gave way. It pawed at the ground with it's forelegs trying to reach the Major. When it realised it's hindquarters were paralysed it whimpered and gave up. It's head fell to the ground and it stopped breathing. Sam looked over to the other side of the fire and saw Teal'c standing above the body of the second creature. Blood dripped from the knife he held.  
"It is dead." He told her.  
"This one too." She replied.  
"Hey guys, a little help here please." Daniel was still on the ground. He clutched at his leg. Sam rushed over.  
"It's not too bad," she said as she looked at the wound. "It needs sterilising and bandaging and it might hurt to walk on."  
"No you think?" Daniel glared at her. "Sorry Sam. It's just really hurts. What are those things anyway?"  
Teal'c was crouched over the creature he had killed. "They look to be large rodents."  
Daniel winced as Major Carter applied antiseptic.  
"Large man eating rodents. This one actually took a bite out of my leg. Look."  
Sure enough there were teeth marks and a chunk of flesh missing from Daniel's leg.  
"Well it's almost morning," Sam said when she had finished attending to the leg. "Lets pack up and head off now."  
  
It was almost noon when the trio reached the caves.  
"Great. The path goes in there?" Sam looked at Daniel.  
"Yep. Looks like it. We'll have lunch and a rest before we go in."  
After they had finished their rations, they relaxed a little in the warm sun.  
"Are you feeling alright, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.  
"Yeah, I'm feeling alright enough. My leg's pretty sore to walk on but I'll live I guess. Actually I'm feeling pretty darn good considering a giant rat tried to chew my leg off."  
Sam laughed, "You're starting to sound like Jack now."  
Daniel groaned. "Don't say that."  
"I think we should leave now, Major."  
"Yeah good idea Teal'c. Lets go."  
She helped Daniel to his feet and they entered the caves.  
  
"Hey guys have a look at this. It looks like there's writing or something on the walls."  
Daniel swept his torch over the sides of the caves. He put his hand on the wall and ran his fingers over the grooves he had found. Sam came to stand next to him.  
"Hey look Daniel, I know how much this sort of stuff means to you but we've got to keep going. We've only got a couple of hours of daylight left and we don't know how much further we have to go."  
Daniel was about to agree with her when they heard a noise. It echoed down the passageway.  
"The noise is coming from behind us." Observed Teal'c.  
Daniel looked back down the tunnel. "But how can it. We've already come down there and there were no other passages."  
Teal'c took a better grip on his stick, "I suggest we keep moving."  
The three hurried down the passage frequently glancing over their shoulders. Teal'c was in the lead, followed by Daniel, then Sam.  
  
"Do you guys think we could stop for a second?" Daniel was limping quite badly now. "I haven't heard anything for a while. It could have just been the wind. Or maybe a few rocks falling."  
Sam gazed intently back down the passage for a minute.  
"Yeah I think Daniel is right. We'll rest for a few minutes. Just stay alert."  
"Major maybe you should have a look at his." Teal'c was kneeling on the ground. Moving past Daniel, Sam crouched next to Teal'c. There was a strange jelly-like substance on the floor of the cave.  
"Guys!!" At Daniel's yell both Major Carter and Teal'c turned around to see a large… well large thing coming down the tunnel. It filled the passage from wall to wall and it floated about a foot off the ground. It's movements were almost fluid, it was a dirty clear colour and it looked as if it had things stuck inside it. All three SG-1 members were frozen by the site of it, so it was almost upon Daniel by the time Sam reacted. She jumped in front of the thing and swung at it with her stick. As soon as the stick struck the surface of the creature all it's momentum seemed to be sucked away. Sam yelled in surprise as the stick was pulled from her hand. The jelly thing seemed to ingest the stick, it moved forward spreading around the stick as it did.  
"Quick run!" Screamed Sam. Suddenly there were three pairs of sprinting feet running down the passage. With his injured leg Daniel quickly fell behind. Sam and Teal'c slowed down to help him, finally he seemed to gain his wind and all three were off again. They had just sped round a corner when Sam stopped.  
"Teal'c! Wait! Where's Daniel?"  
"He was with us."  
They both spun around as they heard the scream echo down the tunnel.  
"No!" Yelled Sam as she turned and ran back down the tunnel.  
Daniel was lying on the ground unconscious his foot caught on a tree root. Only 2 feet away the thing was advancing. Teal'c pushed passed the paralyzed Sam and ran towards Daniel. He was still about 20 metres away when the thing reached Daniel's foot. It quickly engulfed his whole leg. By the time Teal'c was close enough to grab Daniel it had consumed up to Daniel's chest. Teal'c Grabbed Dr Jackson's arms and tried to pull. The jelly creature kept swallowing Daniel. Teal'c kept pulling, trying to free Daniel until the thing had engulfed the Doctor's head. He looked up the tunnel to Sam who shook her head.  
"Come on!" She called "It's too late now. We've got to save ourselves."  
As Teal'c ran up the passage and grabbed Sam's arm he could see the tears in her eyes. He knew he looked the same but they must carr-  
  
"Right! That's it!!" Daniel Jackson jumped up. "I've had enough! This is the last time I play Dungeons and Dragons with Jack as Dungeon Master! I mean killing me with a, a" Daniel grabbed the D&D book out of Colonel O'Neill's lap, "A Gelatinous Cube! Thanks a lot. And what's with the Giant Man Eating shrews! How come I was the ONLY one injured?"  
He threw the book back at Jack who caught it deftly.  
"Daniel Wait!" Called Jack, but Daniel had already pulled open the door. He stormed out and slammed the door behind him. The abrupt breeze from the door blew out a candle. Jack shrugged at Teal'c and Sam.  
"Sore loser." 


End file.
